Culture of Image

Shot

Shot

a single stream of images, uninterrupted by editing. One of the basic units of cinema

Long/Extreme long shot

see several objects from very far away (establishes time and place (establishing shot), allows the viewer to decide where to look among the many objects on screen; (tells you time of day, or time (period)  and place, gives you those information)

John Ford: La prisonnière du désert / The Searchers (western)

Close-up

The object on screen takes up most of the screen, for a character the head takes up about 80% of the screen. Forces the viewer to eye what the filmmaker intends, intimate and revealing (sometimes intrusive, voyeuristic)

Idea of proximity, too close.

Kubrick: The Shining

Extreme close-up

focusing on details of an object or face (like the closeup, intimate, voyeuristic, but sometimes it’s so close, you can’t identify the object) defamiliarizing. 

John Hughes: Ferris Bueller’s day off

Medium shot

between the close-up and the long shot, showing characters from about the waist up (the most neutral and naturalistic shot) 

BBC Sherlock Holmes

Full shot

a shot showing the entire body of the actor (fairly neutral, but emphasis generally in the action being performed by the characters, making it necessary to see their entire body) to contrast what he’s doing, to contrast with him how he is dressing.

American gangsters

Focus

essentially defining the points of interest in each shot and how they are seen, it directs the attention of the viewer

Shallow focus

slightly out of focus, keeps only one plane in sharp focus. (Used to direct the viewer’s attention to one element of a scene, very common in close-up)

/ The accused …?

Deep focus

both elements in the foreground and the background are in focus. More naturalistic, how we actually see; viewers can choose what they chose to focus on. Suggest that every detail is important.

The new world, Pocahontas

Focus pull/Rack focus

when the focus shifts from one object/ character/ element to another (directing the viewer’s gaze). A change in focus.

Young Victoria

Point of view

the position from which the camera is filming

Establishing shot

a neutral shot with a particular viewpoint establishing the setting of the scene. Extreme long shot, little figure and can see Atlanta in the background. 

But establishing shot because telling us apocalypse, zombie, desert town

The Walking Dead poster

Point of view shot

where the camera is taking the place of a character, it is showing you what the character is supposed to be seeing. Forces the viewer to identify with the character.

Inglorious bastards

Over the shoulder shot

we see the shoulder and back of the head of one character while the focus is on the other. (We are in the conversation, in the interaction between two characters). In dialogue

Reaction shot

we cut to see a character’s reaction to an object, event, or dialogue

Reverse angle shot

showing an event from the opposite perspective of the previous shows (shot/ counter shot)

Camera angle

the tilt of the camera in relation to the subject

Aerial shot or overhead shot

the camera is directly above the subject; often use to show settings

High-angle shot

the camera is above the subject and angled downward (less extreme) effect of making the subject look smaller, less impressive, more vulnerable

Low angle shot

the camera is below the subject, tilted upwards (character seems more powerful, commanding) (star wars; je suis ton pere luke) making look big and scary, everything centers around him

Eye-level or straight-on angle

 the camera and the subject are on the same level

Dutch angle

the camera is slightly canted or tilted (often indicates danger or tension)

Movement

the way the camera moves throughout a shot

Pan

the camera moves horizontally from left to right or right to left, connecting two or more places or things (often used to introduce a setting as a character discovers a new place)

Tilt

the camera moves up/or down during a shot (often used to communicate size, distance or strength, or create a sense of suspense to discover the rest of what is initially odd-camera)

Tracking shot

the camera moves forward, backward, or sideways and follows a character or object through space

Zoom (in or out)

the focal length of the lens changes, making the subject grow or shrink on size (directs the viewer’s attention to a detail that filmmakers feel is important) 

(or Dolly in/ out, Zoom/Vertigo effect) the chariot moves forward or backwards (while the camera’s focus remains the same

Crane/Helicopter

shot with a change in framing rendered by having the camera above the ground and moving through the air ai any direction (once using a crane or helicopter, now often using drones).

Hand-held camera

a shot made with the camera not mounted on a tripod or other stabilizing fixture

Editing

 the arrangement of shots in a certain structured sequence

Master shot

main shot of a whole scene taken by one camera in one position, which is then intercut with other shots to add interest.

Cut away

shot of something not shown by the master shot of a scene but it is connected to the main action in some way

Match cut

Two scenes connected by visual or aural parallelism

Wipe

 film transition where one shot replaces another by traveling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape

This was once very common (especially the iris slow, where the picture disappeared into a circle) but has gone out of fashion, and is now a very noticeable transition.

Cross-cutting

Intermingling the shits of two or more scenes which are taking place at the same time or are somehow related.

Dissolving

slowly juxtaposing one image with another to transition between scenes

Fade in/ Fade out

black screen -> brightening to a picture

picture on screen -> darkening to a black screen = meaning ending(or white screen!)

Fade to white has a different psychological aspect = open ending.

Low-key lighting

The distribution of lighting within the image so that dark tones and shadows predominate

High-key lighting

The distribution of light within the image so that bright tones predominate

Even lighting

neutral lighting

Front / Back lighting

lighting calling attention to itself as coming from a specific source ; front lighting often is associated with vulnerability, backlighting with suspense or uncertainty because it often obscures its subject.

Diegetic sound/ music

music playing in the world of the film, that the characters also hear. You hear it and the characters in the movie hear it too

Non-diegetic sound/ music

sounds/music that only the audience can hear, that doesn’t exist in the world of the characters

Voice over

a non-diegetic voice speaking, from outside the world of the story

Voice off

a diegetic voice (the voice of the character) who is speaking off-camera, outside of the frame, but which the other characters can hear.

Frame

the boundaries of the screen image

Open frame

characters move in and out of the frame, to show the world is bigger than what we see

Moving frame

 the camera moves, changing the frame (see camera movement)

Canted frame

the frame is slanted (see also Dutch angle)

Soundstage

enclosed space where we can control everything that happens in the environment as he films. Fixed camera, no movement

Big 8

• 20th century FOX 

• LOEW’s inc(incorporated) -> Metro Goldwynd Mayer (MGM)

• Paramount Pictures

• Arceo radio picture RKO

• Warner brothers

• Universal pictures 

• Columbia Pictures 

• United Artists

Slapstick

is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy.

Cinematograph films Act

was an act of the UK Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. for British cinemas to show a quota of British films for a duration of 10 years.

Production Code/ Hays Code

set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968.

Gangster movies

pretty violent none of them criticize their criminal protagonist. They died in a blaze of glory, considered as heroes.

Screwball comedy

• Parodying romantic comedies, very fast dialogues, comedy based on language/ linguistics. Satirizing traditional love stories.

• Bucking the established order: dominant women, fast dialogues, farcical situations; making fun of the gender norms.

Musicals

(shocking, a lot of skin shown, new aesthetic and work of camera (superposition of images), spectacular visual and amazing music. The character actors don’t really matter.

Hays Code: enforced rules

• Crime, immorality = never be portrayed/ shown in positive light

• Films could only present "correct standards of life" =no poor people

• The law had to be respected and upheld.

• Nudity, references to sexual behavior could not be shown

• Religion could never be depicted in a mocking manner (had consequences, religion disappeared from the screen)

• Drug use could not be shown unless the plot called for it

• No detailed depiction of crime

• Revenge could not be a motivation for the plot

• "Perversion" could not be shown

• The sanctity of marriage had to be upheld.

• Blasphemy was forbidden

• The United States flag was to be treated with utmost respect

Classic Hollywood Narrative (30s-60s)

Three act structure 

Equilibrium: 

• The hook: ¼ of the film 

Disruption:

• Middle ½ of the film (urgency created, start the journey, encounter obstacles) 

Equilibrium re-establishment:

• Climax and closure (someone ends up being victorious, the hero learns something, the world is changed, he or she has become a better person etc..)

Narrative conventions

• Focus on the individual, human centered (focused on their choice, actions…)

• Goal-oriented 

• Built on opposition and conflict

• Strong cause-and-effect driven plot (tendency to have a linear plot, the plot will rearrange the time/chronology to focus on the story and make it more interesting. Not many flashbacks) 

• Motivated action (a reason for a everything on TV) 

• Objective/Omniscient (the narration is always present, rarely subjective, we rarely follow only one character) 

• Strong closure (all problems have been resolved, not necessarily happily but all issues raised by the movie have been solved)